Protein protects cells from HIV infection

Scientists have identified a protein that is used by the body to try to halt the spread of HIV.

Recent studies have shown that certain immune cells containing a protein called SAMHD1 are resistant to infection by HIV.

Now, scientists at NYU Langone Medical Centre in the US say they have worked out how the protein works to protect these cells.

According to their research, the protein essentially 'starves' the HIV virus by destroying the supply of molecular material that the virus needs to replicate inside cells.

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This means that when it enters the cell, it lacks the building blocks to make DNA molecules that would otherwise have instructed the cell to make more virus.

Co-lead investigator Dr Nathaniel Landau, professor of microbiology at NYU School of Medicine, said: 'A lot of research on viruses, especially HIV, is aimed at trying to understand what the body's mechanisms of resistance are and then to understand how the virus has gotten around these mechanisms.

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'Many of the virus' secrets are being revealed through molecular biology, and we're learning a tremendous amount about how our immune system works through the study of HIV.'

The findings, which are published in the journal Nature Immunology, could help scientists to develop new treatments for HIV, which is currently carried by more than 33 million people around the world, according to World Health Organisation figures.

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